View source for .CO Internet S.A.S.

==.co's History==
In 1991 .co was recognized as Colombia's [[ccTLD]] by [[IANA]]. Around a decade later, the Universidad de los Andes, the official registrar of .co, began to research the benefits of broadening the availability of .co for commercial purposes. This began a long back-and-forth between the University, the Colombian Ministry of Telecommunication, and [[ICANN]]. Finally, in August 2009, the Ministry announced that it had been awarded oversight of .co as an expanded [[gTLD]].<ref>[http://www.iana.org/reports/2009/co-report-24nov2009.html Reports], IANA.org. Published 2009.</ref>

===Open ccTLD===
The decision to make [[.co]] an [[ccTLD#Open ccTLDs|open ccTLD]] took a decade, with .CO Internet becoming involved in 2006. .CO Internet has always stressed the expansion of the national .co brand as a strong entry point for Colombia into the international Internet, although it has quickly moved beyond national recognition. In a poll 80% of people considering registering domains thought that .co was short for "company", and only 3% thought that it was Colombia's [[ccTLD]].<ref name="dnjournal">[http://www.dnjournal.com/cover/2010/november-december.htm DNJournal.com]. Published 2010.</ref> They have successfully marketed .co as a valuable national asset to the Colombian government as well as the ideal new international extension for the international Internet community.<ref name="huffingtonpost">[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shane-snow/how-to-become-an-Internet_b_705175.html How to Become an Internet], HuffingtonPost.com.</ref><ref name="dnjournal"></ref>

Both .CO Internet's founder and CEO, [[Juan Diego Calle]], and Colombia's president, [[Juan Manuel Santos]], addressed the 39th [[ICANN]] meeting in Cartagena, Colombia. President Santos announced plans for a $2.8 billion dollar initiative to improve the nation's Internet infrastructure and quadruple the number of Internet connections. This new policy seems to be encouraged in large part thanks to the success of .co as an open ccTLD.<ref name="dnjournal"></ref>